When an envelope is not just an envelope

There are two camps when it comes to envelopes when I am designing an invitation for clients. There are those who feel that it gets thrown in the garbage immediately and  don't care what it looks like and refuse to put their budgeted dollars towards it.  Then there are those clients that feel that the envelope is everything because it's the first thing guests see! Lately I have been seeing more people who fall into the latter group rather than the former. I actually feel like there has been a lot of envelope talk going on at Paper Works and Events lately.

I do not view the purpose of the envelope as just a vehicle in which an invitation is delivered. It is the first impression. It hold endless possibility within. There isn't anything more exciting to get your mail and see something pop out of the bills and junk  that is clearly an invitation. Who is it from? For what kind of event will it be? What will the invitation look like?  My kids know that when I see an invitation arrive in the mailbox  (especially when it is not one that I have done!) I get first dibs on opening it even if it is addressed to them!

Before opening the envelope the tone is set for the event. Large colored envelopes which might be hand calligraphed make quite an inital impression and lets the recipient envision an invitation within to a very special event.

Envelopes come in a wide array of forms, colors, sizes and textures. Color and shape is the perfect way to make an invitation jump right out of the mail pile. We usually design the invitation based on the finished dimensions of available envelopes.  Many times when the right envelope is not found we design them ourselves and custom convert for a perfect fit!

We are a dealer of envelopments paper  http://www.envelopments.com/  where there are endless design ideas that we can come up with.  Even if we sell an invitation from one vendor we very often buy an envelopments color envelope to match rather than using the standard white or creme envelope it is sold with.  We usually give the  vendor what we want the finished size of the invitation to be so that it will be a perfect fit for the envelope.

Below are perfect examples of invitations that we have done that were non-traditional and mailed in a tube rather than an envelope making quite a statement upon delivery!

This is one of my favorite samples of an invitation I did for a client that was packaged for delivery - and it was not even mailed!
This was a black tie event with a "jewelry" theme for the Bat Mitzvah girl. We mounted the invitation which was engraved in 2 colors to the padding inside the red jewelry box.  All the inserts went under the pad.  We tucked "pearls" behind the padding so that they would lie on top of the invitation. The red jewelry box was put inside of the white box which was tied with a pearl borded ribbon. The guest's name (no address) was printed on white card stock with a black border and adhered to the box. The white box was placed in gold tissue which went inside a custom foil stamped bag with the Bat Mitzvah girl's name.  The invitations were placed on a gold tray and someone dressed as a "butler" hand delivered each one. This invitation as well as the method of delivery made quite an impression!

We are currently working with a client who choose a pink and white leather invitation which will be silk screened in white on the pink side. The invitation already comes in its own white leather envelope but she couldn't decide how she would mail them.  She already put most of her budget towards the invitation and did not want to spend on a custom white box - but she still wanted that "wow" effect when it was delivered. We originally thought that a white tuck box filled with crinkle would be a cost effective way to mail it. But she did not love that idea.

So we then came up with an idea that she said was "awesome": tie the white leather envelope with a ribbon which will have a tag hanging which will be printed with the guests name. This will go in clear box which we will then put two labels on the top of the clear box. The bottom custom label will be flooded in a pink pms color to match the invitation which will also match the ribbon. The top label will be white and printed in the same ink color as the bottom label. A truley unique invitation and a quite a different "envelope."

For as much time as you spend designing the invitation don't forget how much impact the envelope can have!